Fireworks fan Philip Leonard has been jailed for two years after admitting making explosives in his garden shed.

Police officers found substances similar to the ones used by shoe bomber Richard Reid when they raided Leonard’s home in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset on January 20th.

A bomb disposal team was needed to deal with Philip Leonard’s explosives (PA)

While the team investigating the discovery quickly realised he was a pyrotechnics enthusiast rather than a terrorist, the operation caused significant disruption.

Home-made explosives were stored next to unstable chemicals in the shed, creating a risk of an accidental blast and serious fire.

Neighbours were evacuated from their homes for 12 hours while an Army bomb disposal team made the site safe.

Leonard, 35, later admitted he had found the instructions for making the explosives on the internet and purchased the ingredients via eBay.

He pleaded guilty to four counts of making explosives for an unlawful purpose in February and, at a hearing at Taunton Crown Court today, was sentenced to two years imprisonment.

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Judge Stephen O’Malley told him: ‘I’m pleased that there are systems in place which identify to the authorities people who are doing things like this.

‘What the investigators, police and others, found in January when they raided your home was a potentially very dangerous situation with four different explosive substances which singularly or combined had the potential to cause serious injury to people and property.’

Chief Superintendent Daimon Tilley, of Avon and Somerset Constabulary, said that while there was ‘no malicious intent’ from Leonard, it was important to prosecute him to deter others from experimenting in the same way.